Page:The fastest bicycle rider in the world - 1928 - Taylor.djvu/46

 for I was barred from several tracks in the North on account of my color. I quote the following from a newspaper.

"The announcement made by Tom Eck to the effect that all colored riders including Major Taylor, The Dusky Champion, would not be allowed to race on the Woodside track, Philadelphia, has stirred up a big row, in which the National Racing Board may play a prominent part. While Eck says he has no personal objection to the colored champion's arrangements the owners of the track give him the right to say who or who shall not race on their tracks, and they are against permitting colored men to compete, and so entry blanks will be marked ‘For White Riders Only.’

"The peculiar racing rules this year may be the means of causing considerable trouble for the gray haired manager for he cannot very well bar Major Taylor from racing without the risk of being heavily fined by the racing board and also having his track blacklisted. The question is fully covered in Sec. 13, Clause C of the racing rules which are as follows: ‘A legal entry is one which cannot be rejected by the promoter, one which complies with the racing rules, and is accompanied by the required fee for all entries of the meet.’

"Major Taylor is in good standing with the L. A. W. and has a perfect right to enter races as the League, while it does not admit Negroes to membership, does permit them to enter races to be held under their jurisdiction. Billy Brady who looks after Major Taylor's interest, has expressed himself in no measured terms as to what he calls unjust discrimination and he has issued a sweeping defy on behalf of the colored lad for any style of racing in sight, and with Eck's best foreign stars preferred. Eck's partner, Senator Morgan, stated yesterday that he had no desire whatever to bar Major Taylor from any of his tracks and he will see if matters cannot be adjusted to the satisfaction of all parties concerned.

"He accepted Brady's challenge on behalf of Jaap Eden, Sissac or Boulay. The fight for public favor between the Morgan-Eck combination and Brady, Kennedy and Powers interest, promises to develop plenty of enthusiasm before the season is over."

I somehow used to imagine that if I won my first race of the season I was due for a big year. So in the spring of 1898, the year in which I won the Championship of America for the first time, I bent all my energy to win my initial start in the Asbury Park, N. J., one-mile open event. I won that race and continued on my winning way right through the season winning the Championship that I had longed for since my boyhood days. This Asbury Park event was the opening of the Grand Circuit races, it being stipulated that the rider scoring the highest average throughout the season would be declared the Champion of America. During the year, however, much jealousy